Public Issues Forum Set On Proposed Bion Project

OSWEGO, NY – A public issues forum regarding Bion Environmental Technologies’ proposed integrated beef cattle processing, ethanol and renewable energy project will be held July 14.

“We’ve been working with the college and Bion to set up this event,” L. Michael Treadwell, director of Operation Oswego County, told the county Economic Development and Planning Committee this week. “It will be held on July 14 at the university’s Campus Center auditorium at 7 p.m.”

SUNY Oswego’s Office of Business and Community Relations will host the forum.

Attending on behalf of Bion will be Dominic Bassani, vice president of strategic planning; Jeff Kapell, vice president of project development; and Dr. James Morris, chief technology officer, according to Treadwell.

“Whether you’re anti-Bion or pro-Bion or straddled in the middle and want to know more about it, this would be a good opportunity for you to do that,” he said.

The proposed integrated and closed-loop processing project would be the largest cattle livestock facility east of the Mississippi River.

It would reportedly create an estimated 500 to 600 full-time, skilled and semi-skilled jobs.

There has been some concern about the project regarding the number of cattle it would bring into one area, its technology and other issues.

According to project information, the facility design is based on a business model anchored in environmental sustainability, including a patented comprehensive waste treatment technology that would result in the smallest per-head environmental footprint of any large livestock operation in the world.

“As far as the project is concerned, we’ve not moved forward appreciably with it in a while, in part because of how slowly everything in Albany seems to be moving these days,” Kapell told Oswego County Today.com.

Bion has focused on getting its nutrient credit based facility permitted for construction in Lancaster County, Pa., he added.

Details about the project can be found at www.biontech.com

Members of the public attending the forum will be welcome to comment and ask questions.

For reservations and information about parking, call 312-3492 or e-mail [email protected]

Reservations are requested by July 9. missing or outdated ad config

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